Family of Choice
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Set post "T.R.A.C.K.S.". They can't lose Skye - she's become a part of their family.


**I don't own Agents of SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.**

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The whole team is absolutely terrified about Skye's condition. They're all desperately hoping that she's going to survive this - she needs to. She's become a part of their family, and they can't do this without her.

Jemma has to keep disappearing somewhere so she could cry in peace, but Leo followed her every time to comfort her. "Skye's going to be okay. You don't have to keep falling apart like this."

"What if we do lose her?" Jemma can't bear to think about it.

"Just try not to think about it that way. We got her in the hyperbaric chamber and we're close to a hospital. They'll take care of her there. We did the right thing." He took her hand and comfortingly squeezed it.

She composed herself and wiped the tears off her face. "I can go back out there now." Nobody asked where Jemma had been – her red-rimmed eyes repeatedly gave her away. They wished they could fall apart too, but there wasn't time for that.

Skye has been become one of Ward's best friends, even though he would never admit it out loud. She can't die – he won't allow it. "You hold on, okay?" he whispers. He's glad she's unconscious and can't feel any pain, but at the same time, he's terrified that means she's going to die and there's nothing they can do about it.

"She will because she's Skye. You know how stubborn she is." Melinda smiles and then returns to keeping vigil over the younger woman.

"Coulson survived so she can too." Jemma tries her hardest to believe that.

"That's right. She needs us right now." Phil can't lose Skye either. Somewhere along the line, she's become like a daughter to him and seeing her badly hurt scared the hell out of him. Like the Avengers, these people are his family. They all fit together.

"I hope she doesn't wake up so she won't be in any pain. Damn it." Jemma sniffles as the tears rise up again. She didn't want to keep doing this.

"She won't. And the doctors will take care of her." Melinda has to be confident that Skye will survive this – she had already survived this long, and that had to mean something.

As soon as they touch down and rush Skye to the hospital, the team lingers in the waiting room. Ward walks to a vending machine to get a snack even though he doesn't have much of an appetite.

Leo pulls Jemma in for a hug and doesn't let go. She feels safe in his arms, but Jemma is terrified the doctor will come out at any moment and inform them that they brought her in too late, that Skye is died. "I wish I could stop crying."

"It's okay – we're all upset. It's understandable."

"When I saw her, I was afraid it was too late," Coulson murmurs to Melinda. The image is seared into his brain forever.

"It might be, but we've done everything we can. It's up to Skye now." She feels she could honest with him since the others were falling apart at the seams, and she refuses to upset them further.

"She can beat this." Coulson believes it enough he hopes it does come true.

Ward straightens in his uncomfortable seat and sighs. "How long do you think it'll take until we find out any news?"

"Skye will need to go in for surgery, but they'll have to stabilize her first. We did all we could." Jemma is proud that her voice didn't crack. She considers it a victory.

"It'll probably take hours." Coulson doesn't know if he has the patience to sit here and do nothing. Maybe he can call someone and see if there was any case they could work from the hospital. Most likely not, but he could at least make an effort.

"We could go down to the cafeteria and eat? I know Jemma's hungry." Leo wants to make sure that she eats something.

Jemma shakes her head at her best friend. "I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat and I'm going to make sure that you do."

"I'll go with you." Melinda stands up, and the three of them make their way to the elevator to head down to the cafeteria. Coulson and Ward are left alone in the waiting room.

"It's really bad." Ward knows that if Skye survives (and God, she has to), then the next few days – and months – are going to be brutal.

"Yeah, it is." They sit in silence after that. Coulson scrounges up a gossip magazine and starts looking through it just to have something to do.

And that's when Ward's stomach growls. He laughs despite himself. "I should probably go join the others in the cafeteria, right?"

Coulson nods. "Go ahead. I'll stay here just in case we hear anything." He doesn't have an appetite at all and will not choke down anything just to feel full.

Ward waves goodbye and then leaves to go find the cafeteria. When he finds his friends, Jemma is digging into a piece of chocolate cake. "I can't eat anything real so this is me stress eating," she explains.

Ward isn't surprised – she had gone on a chocolate binge after her near death experience a few months earlier so this isn't new. "No judging. Chocolate cake actually sounds pretty good right now."

"Pizza's really good with it too," chimes in Leo. It isn't the best because this is hospital food, but he still likes it.

"I'll consider my options."

Melinda digs into her salad. "I went with the healthy choice. Choose whatever you want to eat."

After they are all done eating, the four of them return to the waiting room. Coulson is done (or at least pretending to) reading his magazine and just tapping his foot on the floor. "No news yet."

"So we'll just sit here and wait some more." Jemma sits down in her chair and stifles a sob. She is terrified and a little bit convinced that Skye is dead, and no one has informed them yet.

"This is good news," Leo assures her. He hopes with every fiber of his being that he isn't lying to her. She'd never forgive him if he was.

Ward doesn't believe him, but he is trying (and failing) to remain optimistic. He's so sick of hearing nothing and is ready to go talk to someone to get information about Skye's condition.

None of them want to lose Skye. She is family and that is that. Now all they can do is sit and wait for news – good or bad.


End file.
